Welcome to the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC)

Welcome to the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care’s (EEC) website. Whether you are a parent, family member, provider, educator or community leader, this website will provide you with information and resources to help support the Commonwealth’s youngest citizens.

EEC’s mission is to support all children in their development as lifelong learners and contributing members of the community, and to support families in their essential work as parents and caregivers. We are responsible for the licensing and regulation of approximately 11,000 family, group and school-age child care providers, as well as nearly 700 residential care programs and adoption/foster care placement agencies. We also administer financial assistance for over 50,000 children to access high-quality early education and out-of-school time programs that support their developmental success, provide additional parenting resources and services for families, and support the professional development of educators in the early education and care field.

Our young children are our future. Their success as individuals is critical to our success as a Commonwealth.

Thank you for visiting and for your interest in our work on behalf of children and families.

Thomas L. Weber, Commissioner

Tom Weber was appointed Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care in September, 2013 after serving as Acting Commissioner of the department since March, 2013. During his tenure, the Department has expanded early education and care services for eligible families in need, advanced an agenda for higher program quality and increased workforce supports, and implemented a series of health and safety improvements and initiatives including the development and pilot of a differential licensing model that uses enhanced risk assessment tools and practices for monitoring programs. Commissioner Weber led the Commonwealth's successful application for a federal Preschool Expansion Grant, which has the potential to provide $60 million over four years to support free, high-quality preschool in five communities across the state. He also oversees implementation of the Commonwealth's $50 million Federal Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge Grant.

Prior to his appointment, Commissioner Weber served as Undersecretary at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education where he oversaw budget and finance, legal and legislative affairs, information technology, policy, communications, and general administration. During his tenure at the Executive Office of Education, he served as the Secretary of Education’s principal advisor for early education and care and designee to the Board of Early Education and Care, and was also responsible for formulating and implementing strategies leading to the Achievement Gap Law of 2010 and the community college reforms of 2012.

Previously, Commissioner Weber worked as Legislative Director at Strategies for Children/The Early Education for All Campaign, Director of Community Partnerships at the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, Deputy Research Director at the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC), Assistant Director of Government Affairs at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, and Senior Issues Manager at the Office of United State Senator John F. Kerry.

Commissioner Weber is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Suffolk University Law School. He is a native of Lynn, MA and currently lives in Reading, MA with his wife, Sarah, and their two children.